1 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
The possession of language distinguishes humans from others animals. To
understand the humanity people must understand the language that makes
them human. Many definitions about language found in linguistic books. For the
example, one definition states that “a language is a system of arbitrary vocal
symbol by means of which a social group cooperates” (Bloch and Trager, 1942: 5;
Aitchinson, 2000: 25 in Fauziati: 2011). Another definition comes from Crystal’s
(2000: 212) which says that “a language is the systematic, conventional use of
sounds, signs or written symbols in a human society for communication and self
expression”.
In interacting with others, people have to communicate. In order to do
that, they need a method. It is commonly confessed that language is a means of
communication. It is through language that people are able to interact with
others in their world (Derewianka, 1990:3). Through language, people are able to
express their ideas, hopes, thoughts and desires. It implies that language plays a
significant function in our life.
Language is a technique to communicate thoughts clearly from a person
2 people learn a language, they learn the sounds used in that language, that basic
units of meaning (i.e. words), and the rules to combine these to form new
sentences. The elements and rules have been traditionally called the grammar of
a language. A grammar is then “a system of rules” (Clark and Clark, 1977: 5).
The nature of studying language is studying how to communicate,
because language is the most effective media to send a message. Whatever the
language is used in communication, it is a part of a culture. Problems will appear
when people coming from different countries with different situations, cultures
and backgrounds meet and speak in distinct languages. When they have to
communicate and cooperate, they deal with a problem; they do not understand
each other. They have to comprehend a certain language with which they can
understand each other. In this case, they have to master an international
language.
Nowadays, English language has been accepted as an international
language. As an international language, English has main role to develop human
beings’ necessity. It means that societies from different geographical
background, religion and culture have an allowed media to communicate. Like in
transferring of knowledge, technology, economic and even cross cultural
understanding in internet network.
By mastering English language actively, people will not have distinction
3 language in our country as a learning process in school to get graduate from
examination. From this scheme, people cannot create a comfort situation to
study, make laziness in studying English language. In fact, there are so many
functions of English language, like in carrier development, taking a relationship
and it is not merely as a lesson in educational curriculum.
In this country, Indonesia, English has a very significant role in
technological and scientific advances; instruments such as computer and
internet use English. English is used as the first foreign language. Understanding
the growing demand of English as an international means of communication, it
is reasonable that the government places English as a fundamental subject in
their education system.
English is taught and learnt from elementary school until university
students. Nevertheless, in Senior High School, English is taught as the main
subject. The decree of Ministry of Education and Culture number 0847/4/1992,
chapter VIII states that English can be taught as an extra instruction if it is
needed by the local community, and if the teacher of English is available.
Another decree of Ministry of Education and Culture number 060/U/1993 states
that English may be given to elementary school students as a local content.
The nationals’ education major purpose of English is the students
comprehend English communicatively. So, the students must be able to master
4 Haycraft (1978: 8) states that there are various skills in mastering of a language;
receptive skill, listening (understanding the spoken language), reading
(understanding the written language), and productive skills-speaking and
writing.
The latest curriculum, 2006 School-Based Curriculum, is the modification
of “Curriculum 2004”. It makes School-Based Curriculum more perfect by adding
some points, such as Standard of Content. In other words, “Curriculum 2004” is
the core of School-Based Curriculum that develops students’ linguistic
competence to express their own or other people’s experiences, ideas, and
feelings, and to understand several meanings. The language that the students
study is expected to help them recognize themselves, their own and other
people’s culture, to express their own ideas, and feelings, to take part in
communication in their own society with the language they study and to express
their own analytical and imaginative competence they have. The implementation
of School-Based curriculum emphasizes its teaching on four language skills as
“Curriculum 2004”, they are: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. For
example, in learning writing, students are supposed to recognize or create simple
short functional texts and simple essay related to their daily environment.
Among the four skills described above, writing is the most complex one
because it needs representing the control of a number of variables
5 vocabulary, punctuation spelling, etc. In classroom activities, there are many
students who still have many problems in writing skill such as control of content,
punctuation, spelling, vocabulary, form, and grammar. Grammar deals with the
organization or morphemic units into meaningful combination. It cannot be
denied that in using of language is controlled by rules.
Writing skill is as the most important components in English language.
People feel that to achieve spoken language is easier than the writing language.
It is because people first know the spoken than the written and a human always
speaks a language first before he is familiar to the writing system of his language.
The skill to write correctly is not an inborn skill. Writing is frequently studied as a
set of instructional practices. It includes creating a new thought and converting
information. An excellent command of writing is an undeniable benefit that
every student in schools endeavors to attain. People think that to achieve spoken
language is easier than the writing language.
The capability to write acceptably is not an absolutely obtained skill
because it is usually studied as a set of exercises in formal instructional settings
or informal situations. Writing skill must be studied and practiced by doing some
experiences. Writing also involves composing, which implies the ability either to
tell or retell pieces of information in the form of narratives or description, or to
transform information into new texts, as in expository or argumentative writing.
6 mechanical or formal aspects of "writing down" on the one end, to the more
complex act of composing on the other end (Omaggio Hadley, 1993).
It is absolutely the work of creating a writing task can produce some
problems for students, particularly writing in a second language. Formulating
new ideas can be difficult because it involves transforming or reworking
information, which is much more complex than writing as telling. By putting
together concepts and solving problems, the writer engages in "a two-way
interaction between continuously developing knowledge and continuously
developing text" (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1987, p. 12).
It is generally agreed that writing is the most difficult skill to master for
foreign language learners. This is due not only to the need to generate and
organize ideas using an appropriate choice of vocabulary, sentence and
paragraph organization but also to turn such ideas into a readable text (Richard
& Renandya in Fauziati: 2010)
One thing that usually makes difficult to learn a foreign language
correctly and acceptably is that one language has different system for another.
We know that the system of English is different from Indonesia. It causes the
Indonesian students find some difficulties in learning English. The difficulties can
result in errors. People, of course, should avoid misunderstanding in using the
language in our communication. One of the ways to do successful
7 written sentences or speeches. Therefore, everyone needs to learn the grammar
that is generally accepted and practiced by most people who speak the language.
Studies of errors can be applied only in speaking and writing (Dulay, 1982:
144). It cannot be applied in reading and listening. Errors in recount writing are
chosen in this study. Recount is one of the genre texts, which is taught at the
tenth year students of senior high school.
It can be seen that teaching and learning English as a foreign language is
not easy. Most students still have difficulties in learning it. It is not surprising
because some of the differences, which are found, between their native
language and the language they are learning. It seems that in learning a
language, when a learner finds some forms, meaning, and distribution of
patterns that are functionally similar to his native language, he will learn the
language easily because he only transfers the system of his mother tongue to his
foreign language. But if the form, meaning, and distribution of the pattern are
different in the two languages the learner will have difficulties.
This research principally deals with the interlanguage error made by
students, particularly in writing. Hence, the core reasons for choosing this topic
are the distinctions between Indonesian and English, and the student’s
8 Nevertheless, writing in another language is not always as easy as writing
in our own language since there are some distinctive rules in writing systems and
these differences sometimes make some errors. Therefore, some students still
use their mother language; it is called interlanguage in writing process. From the
case above, the researcher determines to analyze the interlanguage errors made
by students in writing recount text.
Teaching and learning English as a foreign language is complicated. Most
students still have difficulties to study it. It is not shocking because some of the
differences between their native language and foreign language they are
studying about. It shows that in learning a language, when a student finds some
forms, meaning, and distribution of patterns that are functionally similar to his
native language, he will learn the language easily because he only transfers the
system of his mother tongue to his foreign language. But if the form, meaning,
and distribution of the pattern are different in the two languages the learner will
have difficulties.
Error could even be an important feedback for the learners themselves.
By knowing their errors, they will know the problems that they face and try to
analyze their weaknesses. On the other hand, by analyzing student’s errors, the
teachers cannot only detect the students’ difficulty in learning the target
9 teaching the language. It implies that learner’s errors could give significant
contribution in creating appropriate materials for teaching.
Error Analysis is “the first approach to the study of SLA which includes an
internal focus on learners’ creative ability to construct language” (Saville-Troike
in Fauziati: 2009). The primary focus of EA is on learner errors and the evidence
of how learner errors could provide an understanding of the underlying
processes of second language acquisition.
Studies of errors can be applied only in speaking and writing (Dulay, 1982:
144). It cannot be applied in reading and listening. Errors in recount writing are
chosen in this study. Recount is one of the genre texts, which is taught at the
tenth year students of senior high school.
It can be seen that teaching and learning English as a foreign language is
not easy. Most students still have difficulties in learning it. It is not surprising
because some of the differences, which are found, between their native
language and the language they are learning. It seems that in learning a
language, when a learner finds some forms, meaning, and distribution of
patterns that are functionally similar to his native language, he will learn the
language easily because he only transfers the system of his mother tongue to his
foreign language. But if the form, meaning, and distribution of the pattern are
10 This research principally deals with the interlanguage made by students,
particularly in writing. Hence, the core reasons for choosing this topic are the
distinctions between Indonesian and English, and the student’s difficulties in
writing a good English arrangement.
Nevertheless, writing in another language is not always as easy as writing in our own language since there are some distinctive rules in writing systems and these differences sometimes make some errors. Therefore, some students still use their mother language; it is called interlanguage in writing process. From the case above, the researcher determines to analyze the interlanguage errors made by students in writing recount text.
This happening also occurs in MAN 2 Boyolali. Some students still do the
same thing in their writing works. In teaching learning of English, the teachers
teach all four skills; speaking, listening, reading and writing. They are usually
faced by the same situation, which the students however sometimes still use
their native language in their work. In writing teaching learning process, the
teachers use kinds of text. In Senior high school, there are thirteen kinds of text.
They are recount, spoof, procedure, anecdote, review, news item, description,
discussion, hortatory exposition, analytical exposition, report, narrative and
explanation.
It cannot be denied that writing is not easy because there are several
rules to be done in this skill. The students still make interlanguage errors in their
11 1. My mother and I went shopping to Pasar Johar Market in Sunday.
It should be my mother and I went shopping to Pasar Johar Market on
Sunday, student uses preposition “in” for a day.
2. We took a bus in 8 a.m. and got there in 10 a.m.
The right sentence should be we took a bus at 8 a.m. and got there on
10 a.m. Student uses preposition “in” for time.
3. After that, we went to fish section to buy something.
The interlanguage error appears in omission the article “the”. It
should be after that, we went to the fish section to buy something.
Based on the phenomenon above, the writer tries to find the common
Interlanguage error in writing of eleventh year students of MAN 2 Boyolali. Thus,
students could know what the errors are which they create and teacher could
overcome it. The research is entitled, “Interlanguage Error Made by Students in
Writing Recount Text” (A Study at MAN 2 Boyolali).
B. Problem Statement
Here the researcher locates the problems in his research. The problems
of the research are formulated as follow:
1. What are the morphological errors made by the students in writing recount
12 2. What are the syntactical errors made by the students in writing recount text?
3. What are the discourse errors made by the students in writing recount text?
4. How is the errors’ frequency of each type?
5. What is the dominant error?
6. What are the sources of errors?
C. Objective of the Study
Based on the research problems, the researcher has the following
objectives of the study as follow:
1. to illustrate the morphological errors in writing recount text made by the
students,
2. to investigate the syntactical errors in writing recount text made by the
students,
3. to describe the discourse errors made by the students in writing recount text,
4. to reveal the errors’ frequency of each type,
5. to unearth the dominant error, and
13 D. Benefit of the Study
The finding of this study is generally expected to be able to give valuable
contribution both theoretically and practically.
1. Theoretical Benefit
Theoretically, this study is expected to give a worthy contribution
to the field of interlanguage errors.
2. Practical Benefit
Practically, this study can offer information for teachers, students
and researchers in interlanguage error.
a. To the Teachers
The result of this study is intended to become an input for them
dealing with the importance of giving more exercises about writing
and improving their teaching technique in teaching writing
particularly as a foreign language.
b. To the Students
The writer hopes the students are able to improve their writing
skill and to avoid in making error in writing and by giving valuable
14 c. To researchers
They can use the finding of the research as useful reference for
related researches and this thesis may help other researchers to do
the same related researches in deeper, further and better
techniques.
E. Limitation of the Study
Limitation correlates to the selection problem from a diversity of
problems that have been identified. By limitation, the research is more
specialized, simpler and easier in observing the object of the study. Limitation is
very useful for the writer to determine the problems which are analyzed. The
researcher is more focused and directed in order to reveal the interlanguage
error and do for further action.
In this case, the writer just explains about the interlanguage error made
by students in writing recount text for the eleventh year students of MAN 2
Boyolali in Academic Year of 2013/2014. The writer takes sixty student’s papers
